ABSTRACT
Embodied variations defined as disabilities are represented throughout the history of art which documents the social discourse about sexuality as predominantly exclusionary of people with disability. A photographic exhibition defying that discourse is Intimate Encounters. Focusing upon three portraits in this exhibition (each subject has dwarfism), this chapter compares the process and product of the photographer of Intimate Encounters with self-representations by the author, who is an artist and a woman with dwarfism. This comparison of process and images reveals that each challenges the discourse and pejorative gaze of the viewer, with a shift from stereotypical exclusion to representation of the subjects as sexual beings in dynamic, intimate relationships. The concept of disability aesthetics is then critiqued in reference to these representations of disability and sexuality. This chapter argues that, currently, disability aesthetics is founded upon a restrictive definition of the term aesthetics and that an extension of the concept of disability aesthetics is required that broadens the sense of aesthetics as a dynamic, interactive, sensory/affect process so as to adequately represent people with disability as sexual beings.
(disability aesthetics, dwarfism, sexuality, intimacy, gaze)
